Ā mātou kōrero

“Each moment is just what it is.   It might be the only moment in our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat.   We could get depressed about it or we could finally appreciate it and delight in…

1st September.   Spring is here.   Springtime is lovetime.   Time to be rejuvenated by the new life all around us – the warming sun that touches the morning, the fluffy puffs of blossom,  flowers in every vivid shade of colour emerging…

Leading by Example.   That’s the statement of affirmation one of our banners displayed at the Ka Toi Maori o Aoraki, held in Timaru at the end of last week.   It was a fabulous metaphor, as it turned out, for the…

Hikoi Waewae What do you do when your initiative is focused on the outdoors and it rains for months?  You use your initiative and find day walks to go on which won’t become treacherous if the weather turns. Such was…

Last weekend, our leaders-in-training stood in wonder, as the rays of the sun splintered the deep puffs of cloud sitting above Takapūneke, in the land of Onuku.      Takapūneke was the home of the Ngāi Tahu Upoko Ariki; Te…

The earth laughs in flowers.  It leaps with joy in perky daffodils, haughty tulips look out over the world in splendid shades of red; exquisite orchids demonstrate perfection in every aspect of their design.   Separately they have a beauty in…

This week we have been celebrating and reflecting on our first three years since we opened a new chapter in Whānau Ora in Te Waipounamu with the birth of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu. We have looked back on our…

Haramai te kōnehunehu! Haramai te hāuaua, Haramai te tarahī! Haramai te patapataiāwhā! Takataka mai i te kōmanawa o te hei tapu, whāinumia e koe e Waipuna-ā-rangi ka tupu te whenua, ka tupu te tangata! Welcome the misty rain! Welcome the…

He hono tangata e kore e motu; ka pa he taura waka e motuUnlike a canoe rope, a human bond cannot be severed.   This week Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu had the honour of accompanying the Minister for Whānau…

Rēkohu.  Wharekauri.  Chathams Islands.   A land of exquisite beauty, where the dawn rises from behind the shore and sets the world alight.    And in the stillness of its silhouette on the waters, just as suddenly the sun appears to dazzle…